US embassy in RP warns of terror bombings in Cotabato

MANILA (AP) - Terrorists may be planning to bomb bus terminals and public markets in two southern Philippine towns that have been targeted in the past, the U.S. Embassy warned.

The attacks may take place over the next several days in the towns of Kidapawan and Makilala in North Cotabato province, 950 kilometers (600 miles) southeast of Manila, the embassy said in a statement posted on its Web site over the weekend.

It called on U.S. citizens to "exercise extreme caution" in central Mindanao _ home to a decades-old Muslim separatist rebellion and al-Qaida-linked militants.

Seven people were killed and 44 wounded in bomb blasts in Kidapawan and two other southern towns in early January. In October, eight were killed and 22 wounded in an explosion in Makilala.

Authorities blamed Muslim guerrillas with links to the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah network, whose operatives are believed to be training Filipino insurgents in bomb-making.

Washington has provided money, equipment and military advisers to help Philippine troops battle the militants.